Mombasa is a heavy economic game taking place in Africa from the 15th century to the middle of the 20th century. Players will be using resource cards and workers to acquire shares in 4 companies and help them spread throughout Africa. Players will also be involved in bookkeeping and diamond mining. Do you have the ability to out think your opponents and make the companies you choose to become the powerhouse and make you lots of money? If so then you may be ready to play Mombasa. Before you play, I invite you to read along as I give you my take on Mombasa.

Components Mombasa contains a lot of components in the box. Each player has wooden discs that track the various share levels and also act as workers. Each of the 4 companies in Africa is represented by different color wooden houses. The game also contains book tiles, starting tiles, bonus tiles, and coins made out of sturdy cardboard that does not flake. A main part of the game is the action cards that are used each round to determine what you are able to do. These cards are of good quality and should stand up to lots of wear and tear. The rule book does a good job of explaining everything but is very intimidating with how long it is. It does provide lots of colorful illustrations that help explain the games finer points. For how big and daunting the rule book looks, I was able to find answers very fast to questions I had while playing. Mombasa may not be the flashiest euro game out on the market but the components will stand up to many plays and are easy understand.

GameplayThe goal in Mombasa is to have the most money after 7 rounds. Players will earn money based on their position in diamond mining, bookkeeping, and from the shares of the 4 companies (Saint Louis, Cape Town, Mombasa, and Cairo). There are 3 phases to each round. During the planning phase, players will simultaneously place action cards down in their action slots. After everyone has chosen their action cards for the round, they will reveal them. This takes us to the main action phase of the game. Players will take turns performing 1 action each and keep going till everyone is finished performing actions for the round. During this phase a player can use or more of a type of good to purchase new action cards or advance on a company track. After performing that action those goods are no longer available for the rest of the round for that player. You may use hat symbols to perform the expansion action. You will move one of the house tokens from the company of your choice and expand their territory one area per exploration point. If a territory has 2 lines for it's boundary, it requires 2 points to move into it.

Players can use a bookkeeping card action to advance on the bookkeeping track. You may move up as many spaces as possible on the track as long as your current goods in your action area meet the requirements of that space. For example if I have 3 hats and 4 bananas on my action cards for the round, I will meet any book criteria that is asking for that or less. If I had already used my bananas to purchase a card, I no longer have them to meet the criteria for the books. The final book spot you land on is the one you will be able to receive the reward from. The spots will usually reward you money or diamond movement. During this phase players can also use a diamond merchant card to advance on the diamond track. Both the bookkeeping and the diamond track will provide an extra action card slot once you advance far enough on their tracks. The final action you can perform during this phase is to use 1 of your bonus markers (workers). In the bonus area, players can place their marker and receive some type of reward. For example having the most coffee lets you place a bonus marker on a Cairo action spot and lets you move up on the Cairo track a number of spaces based on the number of goods you currently have available in your action slots. There are also slots to buy action cards using money, gaining the starting player token, and selling one of your action cards that you no longer want. There are also 3 bonus action cards that can be claimed this way as well as a +1 good bonus to a card played next round. Only one person can claim any of these per round. Also as you expand on the various company tracks, bonus action spaces may open up that let you take other special actions like selling an action card for an extra 3 money.

After you end your own action phase, you will pick up 1 deck from the resting decks. You will then move your current action cards that you have all used and add them to their respective resting deck. The resting decks are the cards that were used during the previous round and are currently not available to use. Each action card spot has a corresponding resting deck spot. When planning for what action cards to put down, you have to keep in mind which resting decks you will be taking into your hand in future rounds. Once you have moved the current action cards into the resting decks, you will move on to the final phase. This phase gets everything ready for the next round. You will refresh the card display on the board and move a coin from the round track to the book display. Players then take back all their bonus markers and start a new round. After 7 rounds, players will total up the money earned from the diamond and bookkeeping tracks. They will add that to their current money supply and then figure out the price of the stock for each company. To determine how much a stock is worth for a company, you will add up the coin symbols that were revealed by moving house tokens off the company while expanding it. Each player will total up the number of shares they own of the company from action cards and their place on the company track and multiply that by the share price. Add that money with your other total and the player with the most total money is the winner and bless the rains in Africa for their riches.

15th century Africa coffee trade

Final Thoughts Mombasa is a very deep game that will challenge your mind. Mombasa has so many fine points that I could not explain each of them during the gameplay section of this review. What makes Mombasa good is how seamless each part of the game meshes with the other parts. Once you understand the game, it moves at a fast pace and can be completed in under 2 hours. The various ways to earn money and how each direction you take in the game influences others, makes this a great game to play. The game components may be a bit bland but they do their job in the game. The rule book is very detailed and long. Some will like this and others will try and learn through an instruction video online or have someone else teach them. Mombasa took me a long time to read through and understand all the rules to a point where I could explain and teach others. The use of actions cards and having to put them into resting decks instead of back into your hand was interesting, as you had to think 2 to 3 rounds ahead. Putting an action card in the wrong slot and you may end up not seeing that card back in your hand for the game. The game was solid as a two player game and as a three/four player game. As far as economic games go, I really enjoyed this one above others I have played. This is going into my collection and I hope to play it again real soon. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys challenging economic or euro style games. If I had played this when it was released it would have been my top euro of the year.

Taco gives Mombasa a rating of...

8.75 out of 10

Pros:+ Many strategies that can win the game+ Seamless mesh of deck-building, area control and worker placement mechanics+ Rule book is very detailed and explains everything+ Heavier euro style game that can be played in under 2 hours+ Plays well at 2, 3 and 4 players

Cons:- Bland components may turn off some- Rule book is very long and intimidating- I get Toto's Africa stuck in my head whenever I play